United States Ambassador to Armenia

Ambassador of the United States to Armenia Միացյալ Նահանգների դեսպանը Հայաստանում
Seal of the United States Department of State
File:Richard Mills 2015.jpg Incumbent Richard M. Mills, Jr. since December 2014
Inaugural holder	Harry J. Gilmore as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Formation	May 12, 1993
Website	U.S. Embassy - Yerevan

Armenia declared its independence from the Soviet Union on August 23, 1990, having previously been the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, one of the constituent republics of the USSR since 1936, and part of the Transcaucasian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic since 1920. In the wake of the August Coup (1991), a referendum was held on the question of secession. Following an overwhelming vote in favor, full independence was declared on September 21, 1991. However, widespread recognition did not occur until the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union on December 25, 1991. The United States recognized Armenia on December 25, 1991.

The embassy at Yerevan was opened February 3, 1992, with Steven Mann as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim.

The U.S. ambassadorial post to Armenia became vacant on May 24, 2006, when the then-current ambassador John Marshall Evans was recalled by the Bush administration, purportedly over remarks by Evans concerning the Armenian genocide. On May 23, 2006, and again on January 9, 2007, President Bush nominated Richard E. Hoagland to be the new ambassador to Armenia, but the nomination was delayed in The Senate in a dispute between the Bush administration and Congress over the Armenian genocide issue. Rudolf V. Perina, the chargé d'affaires ad interim, served as the chief of the mission until August 1, 2008, when Marie L. Yovanovitch began her term as the ambassador.

Ambassadors

U.S. diplomatic terms

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Career FSO
After 1915, The United States Department of State began classifying ambassadors as career Foreign Service Officers (FSOs) for those who have served in the Foreign Service for a specified amount of time.

Political appointee
A person who is not a career foreign service officer, but is appointed by the president (often as a reward to political friends).

Appointed
The date that the ambassador took the oath of office; also known as “commissioning”. It follows confirmation of a presidential appointment by the Senate, or a Congressional-recess appointment by the president. In the case of a recess appointment, the ambassador requires subsequent confirmation by the Senate.

Presented credentials
The date that the ambassador presented his letter of credence to the head of state or appropriate authority of the receiving nation. At this time the ambassador officially becomes the representative of his country. This would normally occur a short time after the ambassador’s arrival on station. The host nation may reject the ambassador by not receiving the ambassador’s letter, but this occurs only rarely.

Terminated mission
Usually the date that the ambassador left the country. In some cases a letter of recall is presented, ending the ambassador’s commission, either as a means of diplomatic protest or because the diplomat is being reassigned elsewhere and replaced by another envoy.

Chargé d'affaires
The person in charge of the business of the embassy when there is no ambassador commissioned to the host country. See chargé d'affaires.

Ad interim
Latin phrase meaning "for the time being", "in the meantime". See ad interim.

• Harry J. Gilmore – Career FSO
  • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
  • Appointed: May 12, 1993
  • Presented credentials: May 31, 1993
  • Terminated mission: Left post, July 11, 1995
• Peter Tomsen – Career FSO
  • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
  • Appointed: June 27, 1995
  • Presented credentials: September 6, 1995
  • Terminated mission: Left post September 6, 1998
• Michael Craig Lemmon – Career FSO
  • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
  • Appointed: June 29, 1998
  • Presented credentials: September 21, 1998
  • Terminated mission: Left post October 1, 2001
• John Malcolm Ordway – Career FSO
  • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
  • Appointed: November 5, 2001
  • Presented credentials: November 23, 2001
  • Terminated mission: Left post July 31, 2004
• John Marshall Evans – Career FSO
  • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
  • Appointed: June 30, 2004
  • Presented credentials: September 4, 2004
  • Terminated mission: Left post, September 10, 2006
• Post vacant September 10, 2006 – August 1, 2008
  • Rudolf V. Perina, Chargé d'Affaires a.i.
• Marie L. Yovanovitch – Career FSO
  • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
  • Appointed: August 1, 2008
  • Presented credentials: unknown
  • Terminated mission: June 3, 2011
• Bruce Donahue – Career FSO
  • Chargé d'Affaires June 3, 2011 - October 6, 2011
• John A. Heffern – Career FSO
  • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
  • Appointed: October 6, 2011
  • Presented credentials: October 17, 2011
  • Terminated mission: December, 2014
• Richard M. Mills, Jr.
  • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
  • Appointed: December, 2014
  • Presented credentials: December 16, 2014
  • Terminated mission: Incumbent

See also

• Embassy of Armenia, Washington, D.C.
• Embassy of the United States, Yerevan
• Armenia – United States relations
• Foreign relations of Armenia
• Ambassadors from the United States

References

• United States Department of State: Background notes on Armenia
•  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Department of State (Background Notes).

External links

• United States Department of State: Chiefs of Mission for Armenia
• United States Department of State: Armenia
• United States Embassy in Yerevan